Chain Reaction
by eccentricvagabond
Summary: A series of one-shots revolving around Hayley and Elijah.
1. The Little Things

1.) The Little Things

When the sun has long risen up in the horizons, Elijah walks down the hall while simultaneously adjusting the leather strap of his watch. He has freshly showered and is donning his usual, crisp unimpeachable suit. The morning sun enters through the large windows of the plantation house, lightening up the place beautifully. He stops walking when he reaches the doorway to the kitchen. He watches the pregnant Hayley rummage through the pantry. She's still wearing her nightie that ends mid-thigh underneath a gray cardigan and is barefoot. Her hair is unkempt and cascading down her shoulders. The nightie looks so perfect on her, despite (or maybe because of) its simplicity and innocence. One of her hands is shuffling through a cabinet while the other is resting on the large swell of her belly. She hasn't notice him yet.

"May I help you find what it is that you're looking for?" He asks, entering the room now.

Hayley startles, causing her to slam close the cabinet, the sound echoing through the very quiet house. She gives him a look. "I think I've had enough of vampires creeping up on me to last a lifetime."

Elijah chuckles. He stops in front of her. "Forgive me. I have spent most of my lifetime with fellow vampires and it is greatly difficult to creep up on us."

She holds her hands aloft briefly. "Hey, you don't have to tell me."

"Did you sleep well last night?" He asks, watching her rest her lower back against the counter beside him.

"I guess." Hayley shrugs. "I mean, let's face it, how often does heavily pregnant women sleep soundlessly and comfortably?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never been pregnant myself."

Hayley looks at him confusedly before laughing – the sound so lively and heartening to Elijah. She says, "Wow, that was a lame attempt of a joke. Terrible, really. You should just stick with great, big, noble words."

Elijah eyes her amusedly. "If you find the joke so terrible, then why did you laugh?"

"I laughed on the account of it being lame." She answers.

Elijah chuckles more before it inevitably wanes. "Where have my siblings gone to this morning?"

"I don't really know. The both of them were quite vague about it. Rebekah says something about going into town to whatever – she had closed the door before she could even say it and Klaus just told me that I shouldn't do anything risky today and then he's out the door. Quite charmers, you Mikaelsons are."

"Ah, yes. Please forgive my siblings. I'm afraid they have lost their touch on manners and proper etiquette."

"I understand." Hayley says. "Of all the near-death experiences they've had, proper etiquette is pretty much out the window of their thoughts."

Elijah nods. He admires her for her open-mindedness. She was, after all, a vagabond. And in order to blend into an unfamiliar place, one needs an open mind to see things in the way the locals do. But now, she doesn't have to be a vagabond anymore. She now has a family, people who would accept her for who she is. Elijah takes pride in giving her that.

He looks around. "So you haven't had breakfast, I take it?"

Hayley sighs. "No. I've been trying to find something to eat, something that I'm really hungry for and I couldn't. I don't know what I want – or what the baby wants, for that matter. I couldn't put a finger on it." She lowers down her voice. "No offense, I know that this is why you're protecting me in the first place but being pregnant is a bitch. It isn't all rainbows and unicorns – miracle baby or not."

Elijah finds himself amused again. "No matter. We'll just narrow it down into categories." He says. As he is about to say something, Hayley beats him to it.

"I am not eating cereal or bread…or eggs." She cringes. "Just the thought of them makes me feel even more nauseous than I already do."

"Fruits, then?" Elijah suggests but his ideas in the category dies down just as quickly when she bites her lower lip, grimace etched upon her face. "Meat? I hear bacon is quite a hit in the mornings."

Hayley giggles. "Just the thought of you eating bacon…" When her laughter dies down, she says, "But bacon's out of the picture. I've looked at the pack of it in the fridge too many times already and I can never bring myself to take it out and cook it."

"So no meat also. Vegetables?"

"Elijah." Hayley sends him exasperated look. "Do I look like I love vegetables? I am a wolf. We're never caught munching on grass for a reason."

"Well, what would you have me say, Hayley?" Elijah says, a smile twitching on his lips. "I'm afraid I'm running out of food categories to suggest. I can recite the plays of Shakespeare off the top of my head but I'm afraid I'm a tad rusty on naming off kinds of food."

Hayley crosses her arms, grinning at him. "You said that you'd protect me no matter what, right?"

In a heartbeat, Elijah says, "Of course."

"Well, then you have to protect me and my baby from dying of hunger. You're gonna have to think of something that my baby – need I remind you, your niece – would want." She tries to say it firmly but she seems t find it difficult to keep her face straight.

"Hayley, I am a very powerful vampire and you know that quite well." He says. "But I am as capable of reading minds of fetuses as any given human on this earth."

Hayley sighs heavily. "What a disappointment."

Elijah's eyebrows raise, a laugh slipping past his lips. "Am I now?"

She's about to respond quirkily but she stops abruptly.

For a fleeting moment, Elijah is on high alert. He touches her arms. "Hayley?'

But his momentary lapse of panic fades when she smiles genuinely at him and says, "Pineapple."

Elijah eyes her confusedly. "Sorry? Pineapple, really?"

"Yeah." Hayley says. "It all clicks now. Pineapple is the way to go."

Elijah shakes his head at her amusedly. "Pineapple it is." He drops his hands from her arms. "I'll get some in town and–"

"I'll come with." Hayley volunteers herself but Elijah is already disagreeing.

"Hayley–" He starts.

"What?" She asks defensively. "I haven't left this house in days and if I don't breathe fresh air and see people other the three Original vampires, I am gonna lose it."

"You can get fresh air in the garden and as for seeing other, unimportant people, I'm afraid it is not essential to your safety."

She gives him a look. "Elijah, would you rather my losing it induce labor? I mean, it could happen when you're getting that pineapple."

With her determined look, Elijah finds himself giving in. "Fine. But getting pineapples – that is it."

"Hey, it's not like I have friends to see." Hayley says. "I'll meet you at the front door in a few." She gives his hand a brief squeeze when she walks by him as she exits the kitchen.

Elijah could feel his hand still tingling from where she had touched him but he ignores it. He makes his way to the front door, by the foot of the stairs.

After a moment, Hayley emerges down the stairs, having only thrown on a coat and scarf over her nightclothes and slipped on a pair of black flats. She looks so effortlessly – literally, as she's just tousling her hair, Elijah's bet to be her attempt to tame it – beautiful. Insanely beautiful. He opts not to dwell on it and buries the thought deep in his mind.

She meets him at the foot of the stairs and takes the arm offered to her and together, they walk out of the house. They walk down the driveway, to Elijah's sleek BMW. Hayley raises her eyebrows at it but she suppresses the comment when Elijah opens the door for her to get in. Once the both of them are in and Elijah pulls out of the driveway, she speaks her comment aloud.

"Fancy car. Dashing suit. Sparkling personality." She says. She smiles when Elijah gives her a look. "Is there ever something Elijah Mikaelson doesn't have?"

Elijah sends a smile in her way as he drives the car into the main road. The smile is soft but there's a hint of sadness in it. "You may think that we have the world in our palms but there are a lot of things that we can never have."

Hayley becomes quiet as she registers his words in his mind. Elijah worries that his statement may have exposed the secret desires of his. Hayley is very smart person – of course she knows what he's talking about.

"Right." She says apologetically. "Stupid question."

"No, it was a perfectly valid question."

"Well, even so, I get it." She says. "Family is everything to you. The fact that you can't build one on your own must be harsher than I thought."

Elijah nods his head, his hand gripping the steering wheel. That is true. It's one of his greatest wishes and he has long ago accepted that he can never have. It's a pain to accept it but there's nothing more he could do. He focuses on the road, not being able to meet Hayley's eyes for a moment. Then suddenly, he feels her warm hand sliding into his that is resting on the center console. She weaves their fingers together. When Elijah dares to look at her briefly, she's staring out the window. For the whole drive, their hands are together, neither one speaking more. It's a comfortable silence anyway.

When they have reached the town, Elijah parks the car and the two of them walk to the area of the Quarter where all the food stalls are located. Elijah watches Hayley as they walk. Both of her hands are in her coat pockets and she looks around, taking in the surroundings.

She meets his stare. "So what was this place like before? You know, way back when you and your siblings ruled town."

Her back bumps into his chest as the huge crowd surrounds them. He places a hand on her arm while the other is on her waist to guide her as they maneuver themselves in between people. He says on her ear, "Things were almost the same. Only now, they are modernized. The people do what it is they did before but only in a different way. Socializing, business – everything. Although I am glad to see that there are some traditions that are still greatly intact and sacred among them. It's nostalgic, that way. When you think about it, New Orleans is a great place to raise you child."

"Oh, yeah?"

He hums in agreement. "The history is so rich, making it rather mysterious and mesmerizing. She'll adore this city."

"Yeah and to top that, the streets are clean."

Elijah chuckles. "Yes, that, as well." He looks around and sees a fruit stall at the end of the street but there are still a great number of people between him and that. He tells Hayley, "Could you wait for me over there," he points to a street sign, where the crowd is somehow slimmer, "while I get you your breakfast?"

"Sure." She says and walks over to it.

Elijah walks through the crowd and to the fruit stall. As he buys and waits for the vendor to skin and cut the pineapples, he uses his sharp hearing to keep track of Hayley. Through the noise in the street, he could still separate her from them. He furrows his eyebrows when he hears her laughing, a sound unmistakably hers. And then he hears her say, "Hey, buddy." Now, he's rather curious.

When he finally gets the paper bag of fruits, he makes his way back to Hayley. The sight explains what he had just heard. One of the townies has a Labrador on a leash. Hayley is petting the head of the dog, scratching it softly.

She says to the female townie, "He's so sweet."

The townie replies, "It's weird. He's normally not so good with other people."

Hayley just grins happily at the dog. For a moment, Elijah is transfixed with the way she's smiling. There's so much in it, so much happiness. It baffles him that this is only because of a stranger's mere dog. Suddenly, he wishes that she is always like this, that this smile wouldn't fade away. But he knows that is impossible. She can't live in their world and be forever happy and content. There is always a problem, there will always be. So he savors this moment before it is gone.

And that's when he discovers something deep within him. Something that is only elicited very few times. He hadn't felt this way in such a long time. Feeling like this terrifies him. He couldn't explain. He wouldn't. But now that he is painfully aware of it, he is torn.

"Hey!" Hayley calls for him.

Elijah musters up a smile and walks over to her. The townie and the dog are now walking away, but the smile on Hayley's face is still intact. He presents her the bag and she looks into it, her smile only widening.

She looks up at him again. "Thank you so much, Elijah."

"It was my pleasure."

"So let's head on home."

"Wait." He says.

She looks at him confusedly. "What it is?"

"It seems to me that you're enjoying yourself here."

"Well, I am."

"Then let's stay for a little bit longer."

She eyes him skeptically. "You sure? You made it plenty clear–"

"Yes, but I also fear that lack of fresh air and other people might induce labor and believe me, I am not ready for that no more than you."

Hayley laughs at him, her fingers curling around his arm as they start walking again. "Okay, then."


	2. Naked Truth

2.) Naked Truth

Hayley stands in the middle of the compound. She looks around, at the scattered bodies, all dead. Werewolves. Werewolves that she was actually willing to kill. She takes a deep breath and rubs the back of her hand on her jaw, unknowingly spreading further he spilled blood. She feels tired (although not physically – one of the perks of being a hybrid, apparently) and disgusted, with the blood of werewolves she hated all over her.

"Well, Francesca ran – again." Klaus says, walking through the compound, looking as disheveled as her. A body is in his way so he kicks it away effortlessly and carelessly. "She's getting really good at it."

Hayley's jaw clenches in anger. She mutters, "It's the only thing she could actually do." She crosses her arms, shaking her head. "That bitch."

Klaus laughs. "For what it's worth, it wouldn't matter where she goes. She's powerless without her army, her family. She's just as good as gone. But that doesn't mean that I am done with her." He looks around the compound. "It infuriates me that they have tainted our home. We may have to call someone to get rid of all the werewolf vermin first before we move back in."

Hayley furrows her eyebrows at him. "You do remember that you're half-werewolf, right?"

Klaus smirks. "Yes, but these mongrels are as every bit of hygienic as the mountain lions in the wild. They are not like us."

Hayley rolls her eyes at him. She falters for a moment. "Do you really think that we can stay in this place? It had been taken from us far too many times."

Klaus meets her eyes with his. There is so much in that stare. Sure, any romantic notion between the two started and ended with their one-night-stand in Mystic Falls, but they have a certain, deep connection now. Their greatest desires and needs link to one person alone – their child. The things they do now, from plotting against their enemies to looking out for each other, are for her, for Hope.

Klaus says, "We belong here, Hayley. That is all the explanation I can draw and I believe that is enough." A small smile forms on his face. "Besides, that exquisite, antique crib is here and I have no plans in transporting it to anywhere else."

Hayley closes her eyes a him, but there's a hint of a smile. This is their daughter's first home after all. It's hard to let it go.

Klaus claps his hands together. "So now that we've succeeded in killing off the werewolves – albeit not all of them, but still – what shall we do next?"

Hayley looks to the side and sees Oliver lying on the floor. She walks over to him, looking down at his lifeless body. He had betrayed her and her family. He had betrayed Jackson, his friend, the one who had once risked his own life for him. It pains Hayley that even in family, there are these kinds of betrayal. She understands that it happens, what with Klaus once (or again) stabbing Elijah with a metal dagger before offering him up to the enemy. She had such high hopes for the family she's been longing for but they have been reduced to what is only mediocre in the supernatural world. Betrayal is as commonplace as humans sneezing their noses.

"Well, whatever it is that you come up with, you're gonna have to do it this time by yourself. I'm gonna go home and shower." Then she walks away, leaving Klaus behind to clean up the aftermath. Not that the Original will actually clean by hand. He'll surely have a cleaning staff to do his bidding. She had done enough today by helping him with the scheming and slaughtering. She walks into the night, to the house they've been temporarily staying at on other side of the river.

•••

Hayley enters her bathroom, turns on the shower and moves to stare at herself in the mirror, as she waits for the water to heat up. She looks the same as she was before she got pregnant – tall and slender but there's something else in it. In her eyes, she could see what she's been feeling, something that went missing on the days when her pregnancy was at its peak. What was once glowing and a hint of happiness is now replaced by hunger for survival and vengeance. She's back to the angry werewolf she once was, only this time, she's stronger. She is now a hybrid, an immortal. This time, her anger is not because she was left alone by the people that she trusted. It is now something deeper. And she just knows that nothing can stop her from expressing this anger until it fades away, until she gets her daughter back in peace.

She starts stripping off her clothes, starting from the flannel shirt, gray tank top, jeans, down to her underwear. She leaves the heap of blood-stained clothes on the floor, never to be worn again. She steps into the bathtub, letting the warm water cascade down her body. She closes her eyes. Before she could stop herself, she lets out a sob, tears that are unrecognizable as they merge with the water coming from the shower, but they're there. And Hayley couldn't stop them.

She may be angry and vengeful but she's also heartbroken. She doesn't show it, she puts up a good front. But she knows that Elijah and Klaus could see through her. A mother to be separated from her newborn is a pain that is greater than what they both had endured in their thousand-year-old lives. Yes, Klaus feels the same kind of pain, as he is also separated from the same child, the only child that he is fathering, but Hayley had carried the baby inside of her for months. Hope was all she had taken care of, more than herself. It was in her mindset that when she's defending herself, she's actually defending the baby.

Hayley's sobs doesn't stop for a long while. Since she's alone, she has taken advantage of it by letting every bit of guard down, giving herself a break from the exhaustion of concealing her pain. It's bad enough that the Original brothers had invested all but their own lives in protecting her ever since they arrived in New Orleans. She wants that to stop since she's stronger now. She doesn't want to be pitied by them – well, to see it anyway, since she's sure that they already do.

Hayley's mind shifts to Elijah and there's something knotting tightly in her chest. He's the one person that she could trust the most, the one she really truly relies on. It terrifies her of how much she needs him to be at her side. Frankly, she's not even sure if he knows this and if she even wants him to. She has never felt this hunger for attention and affection from anyone, ever. Elijah had single-handedly broken into her walls, which something no one has ever done before. He has been stirring feelings in her, newfound and unexplained feelings. These feelings are so intense that she has an idea on what it is but is too frightened to put the word on it. It's too risky and she fears that if she admits herself to it, there will be no turning back. Giving in means putting herself out there, in danger of being hurt. And she is not ready for any kind of heartbreak, not when she's still freshly hurting for her child.

Still, the only thing that she lets herself do is need him. She doesn't put any effort to make sense out of it, leaving it vague and inexplicable. And that is enough, for now.

•••

"Is it done, Niklaus?" Elijah asks as he speaks through the phone. He is walking down the upstairs hall of the house.

Klaus answers, "Yes, it is. The werewolves are down and out, all thanks to me and our new ruthless hybrid. She's a thunderstorm waiting to happen, I tell you. It's quite impressive, if I do say so myself.

Elijah sighs at the way Klaus refers to Hayley. Although he himself has noticed the sudden shift in her ways, he doesn't speak of it out loud. "There are no complications along the way, I take it?"

"Not necessarily though." His brother answers nonchalantly. "Their leader may have gotten away."

Elijah suppresses the urge to groan or snap at his brother. Instead, he stays calm, but there's a hint of seething in his words, "May have?" he echoes. "And here I thought that conducting a massacre is your forte. Where could you have possibly gone wrong?"

"I was a little rusty, I'll admit. But no worries, brother, I will take care of it. In the meantime, perhaps you can check up on Hayley. I believe killing a lot of people in an inadequate amount of time has taken a toll on her, being a rookie and all." Then he hangs up.

Elijah does not need the reminder from his brother, being that he's already at Hayley's door. He slips his phone into his jacket pocket before he knocks. "Hayley? May I come in?"

"Yeah."

Elijah opens the door and the first thing that catches his senses is the overwhelming scent of lavender and something else that he knows could only be associated with the one person. Surely enough, he sees Hayley, newly showered, drying her damp hair with a towel. The lavender scent is explained as t is from her shampoo. It baffles him that even this small, insignificant detail, he knows.

He lets his gaze travel her frame. She's wearing jean shorts with frayed ends and a black tank top that hugs every curve of her torso. He looks at how her hips curve down to her waist and then back up again until it reaches the arcs of her shoulders and then back down again to her neck and lastly, up again to her face. And from there, he meets her eyes, her brows raised and questioning.

Elijah clears his throat awkwardly. "Pardon me. I could come back when you're finished getting dressed."

Hayley's brows go down to a furrow. "No need, I'm fine." She throws the towel to a nearby chair and plops on the end of her wooden four-poster bed, tucking her foot underneath her while the other plants on the floor.

Elijah closes the door behind him and walks further into the room, stopping in front of Hayley. He buries his hands deep into his pockets. "How are you, Hayley? Are there some things that you'd like to talk about?"

"No, but it seems like you do." She pushes her hair away from her face, gathering it down her back.

Elijah gets distracted by the curves of her shoulders and her collarbones that are easily exposed by the black top. She seems unfazed by the way he's looking at her though. Or maybe she just ignores it. Either way, Elijah is quite thankful for the lack of acknowledgement. He regains composure and continues, "Well, yes, but that is not the first order of business. You can talk to me, you know. Anything that you'd like to say, I'll listen."

Hayley's lips twitch to form a smile but she suppresses it. "Just so you know, with the way you're standing before me, I feel like you're lecturing me."

He lets out a small chuckle and moves to sit next to her on the bed. His hand briefly brushes on the side of her leg and for a second, he marvels on the softness of her skin. He moves his hand away quickly.

Hayley asks, "So where were you earlier? I appreciated Klaus insisting that I tag along with his… nefarious mission, but I kind of expected that you would be there, too."

"I was busy tailing that girl, Cassie, trying to see what she's up to."

"One of the Harvest witches? Why?"

"I find her resurrection rather suspecting. I'd like to see some proof of this hunch."

"Well, did you? See anything, I mean?"

"None at the moment. I'll look into her further some time in the coming days."

Hayley nods her head. Elijah watches her fumble with the ends of the lock of hair that had fallen over her shoulder as she stares down on the floor. Compelled by extreme bravery, he reaches his hand out and gently turns her chin to face him. "Talk to me, Hayley. I find it hard to bear when you shut me out."

She stares at him for a long while. He could see her eyes glistening a little, but the tears don't go all the way down. She couldn't even open up enough to cry in front of him. Finally, she puts up a small and strained smile. Her hand closes on his unoccupied one and pulls it to rest on her knee, where she intertwines their fingers. "I'm fine, Elijah. I'm just really glad that you're here."

Despite the words, Elijah remains unconvinced. He knows what she's going through and beckoning her to talk is not for his benefit but hers. He knows that opening up is a way to heal but it seems that will not happen anytime soon, not with Hayley. If she can't talk, then he'll have to make do with some other way to comfort her.

His hand on her chin moves to her shoulders, his arm around them, and pulls her into a hug. Hayley lets go of his hand and wraps both of her arms around him and she buries her face in where his neck and shoulder meet. She breathes against his skin and in effect of that small action, he feels a tingle throughout his body. It shouldn't affect him as much, in the grand scheme of things. But between the two of them, most of everything doesn't make sense anyway.

Elijah moves his arms around her waist, his face against her hair, the damp curls cool against his cheek. He closes his eyes and lets the strong scent of lavender invade his senses. Hayley moves closer to him, her legs almost on top of his. He could feel something wet trickling down his neck and he realizes that they are tears. She really does not want for him to see her like this so waited until they are in a position where he couldn't see her face.

That single act, her crying, is enough for him to know her deep, aching sorrows. She doesn't need the words. In fact her crying is more than what Elijah could bear, he realizes. It pains him that he couldn't protect her from the harrowing feeling. He couldn't do anything to stop it. He learns that it will be hard for him even more to hear the words behind these tears. He could only comfort her and that is it.

Elijah leans his face down and kisses her shoulder, pressing his lips there for a moment.

After a long while, Hayley pulls away a little, only enough for Elijah to see her face. Her eyes are red and glistening and she looks down quickly, breaking off stare. He thumbs off the remnants of tears off her face gently.

"Elijah," she whispers softly, "I don't want you to pity me. That is all I'm asking."

"I don't. I never did." He says truthfully. "The things I do for you are not out of pity but of something else entirely." He doesn't explain further. He knows that she understands the layers behind those words.

Hayley sighs in relief, smiling a little. She stares at him with such intense feelings, as if she's putting words in the way she does it. He hand moves to his face, caressing his cheek before it moves to the back of his head, her fingers buries deep in his soft, dark locks. Slowly, she pulls his head towards her and presses her lips against his.

Elijah is caught in surprise by the action, much like the first time. One of his hands reclaims its former place on her waist and pulls her even closer, her legs fully on his lap now just as the kiss deepens, their lips fitting to each other perfectly, moving in sync. He keeps one of her legs from slipping off his lap by holding onto it, her skin remarkably soft underneath his fingertips. His other arm moves around her waist, holding her against him, and she lets out a sigh, a soft, soft sigh that even he barely hears it. Not for long, the gentle kissing turns into something out of hunger, desperation and frustration.

Elijah, with his vampire speed, moves Hayley from sitting on the edge of the bed to lying on the middle of it, her head on the pillows, with him on top of her, in a millisecond. Their kiss didn't even break. One hand plants on the side of her head, bracing his body over hers while the other is slowly sliding up the side of her torso, riding up her shirt along the way. His fingers touch the bare skin of her waist and it surprises him again how soft it is. One of Hayley's legs hitches around his waist, pulling his hips against hers. She lets out a sigh, a moan, again and Elijah suspects that he would soon be addicted to that sound, always craving to hear it. Her hands slide down his neck to shi shoulders and then necktie. She uses it to pull him even closer before she moves on to loosening it. When one of her hands start to move down his chest, to his belt, he pulls away from the kiss, crashing his forehead to her shoulder, sighing deeply.

In a moment of weakness, he had let his emotions run through. The moment his lips touched hers his mind was wiped from thoughts and he had found it lucky that they had come back before this had gone further. It is not yet time to do this. She is hurting right now, above all else. He wants her to want him and want him alone. And that won't happen if the one thing she desires the most isn't granted to her – her daughter or at the very least, she's not aching for it so much that it consumes her every second of every day.

Hayley opens her eyes, moving one of her hands to his hair, gently massaging the scalp. Her fingernails gently scratch the skin and he shudders. "Elijah? Is everything–?"

Elijah pulls his face up to look at her. Her shirt is hanging low and ridden up, only the breasts part covered. She looks so rumpled, beautifully rumpled. He meets her confused and worried stare.

She asks, "Did I–?"

"No. no, no." Elijah's hand moves some of her hair away from her face. "You did not do anything wrong." He says softly.

"Then what is it?"

Elijah looks at her in the eye for a long time before he moves down to kiss her, softly and sweetly now. Just a gentle brush with the softest pressure before pulling away again. He looks at her adoringly, smiling a little. "It is just…we're moving too fast. This is not the right time to do this."

Hayley's hand brushes his jaw, smiling a little also. "Then when is?"

"We will know. When we're in the moment, we will know." Elijah sighs. He drops a kiss to her forehead, nose, cheek and then jaw before pulling up again. "Right now, we just sleep. You must be exhausted with the day you've just had."

Hayley smiles wider now. It is not as lively as before but it's progressing. Elijah feels that in time, she'll go back to the happiness she had found once, when she was pregnant with her daughter. He saw that in her and then never again. But it will come back. He has faith in it.

She says, "I don't know. I think I'm gonna take a cold shower first."

Elijah chuckles at her and he moves to lie on her side, his hand pulling down her shirt over her stomach before wrapping his arm around her waist while the other is tucked under his head. She shifts her body to face him. One of her arms drapes ever his own that's wrapped around her. Her index finger traces the hairline on the side of his face as she stares into his eyes.

Hayley says, "I'm really glad that you're here. You keep me together and that's why I need you probably more than you need me."

Hearing those words mean the world to Elijah. It feels good to be needed by the one woman he couldn't bear to leave. He kisses her forehead again, whispering, "Sleep, Hayley."

She closes her eyes and he continues to watch her. He's still fully clothed in his suit and it is uncomfortable but he makes no movements. This moment, in this position is too precious for him that he feels any unnecessary movement that will ruin it.

Hayley looks peaceful, with her eyes closed and expressionless. It might be more effective, this peacefulness, if she's awake, but right now, in her sleep, it's a start.


	3. Espionage

3. Espionage

The fancy party is in full swing in the middle of the night. The compound, the former residence of the Mikaelsons before they were driven out of the Quarter, is decorated especially for the event. The Guerrera family had decided to host an event and was kind enough to include the vampire for a one night exclusivity. Klaus and Elijah, surprisingly enough, had accepted the offer that promises a night full of drinking and dancing – indulging, really. Even if the two of them essentially don't do anything involves the enemy without any ulterior motive, they seem to be blending in quite well. They always do. But not everyone is merely content to be here.

The indifference towards the festivities, the consistency of the filling of her champagne glass, the isolation in the room full of people can only be explained by one simply but obvious fact: Hayley is bored.

Sure, being in a room full of people she badly wants to slaughter excites her, feeding on her hunger for justice but like the Mikaelsons, she's controlled by the notions of proper etiquette. The possibility of a brutal dispute is why she even agreed to this in the first place but it doesn't seem like it's happening anytime soon.

Hayley downs her champagne again and looks around the room. Her eyes meet someone's. A man with the usual tall, dark and handsome nuance about him is staring and smiling at her. Hayley doesn't know the man and therefore has no reason to return the smile. After all, with the last one night stand she had, it's a long shot that she'll be handing any more with someone – in this case, a werewolf – who could impregnate her.

The fact that Francesca even has the audacity to throw to their faces that she's even more of the keep-your-enemies-closer believer baffles Hayley to no end. After all the work from keeping the vampires out, her throwing a party and inviting them trashes the effort entirely. Besides, it isn't like any of them will trust her, ever.

Hayley replaces her empty champagne glass with a filled one from a passing waiter. The man from across the room has made his way towards her. She raises her eyebrows at him questioningly.

"Hello there." He says charmingly (not that it has any effect on her). "I can't help but notice that you're not having fun."

"Go figure, genius." She says indifferently and looks away, observing her surroundings, hoping that he would take a hint and leave her alone. Unfortunately for her, he sticks around for a little bit.

"A lady as sophisticatedly gorgeous as you should not be alone at a party like this." The man says.

Hayley turns back to him. She has to admit, he is handsome. Too handsome for his own good. If the version of herself two years ago has encountered this man, she would be giggling and flirting at him, smiling coyly and dragging her finger down his arm. But that's not her anymore. She couldn't even remember how to be like that.

"I would agree," she starts to say, "but I'd like to think that I'm above succumbing to what the universe tells me to be."

The man grins. "A woman of independence. I like that."

"In that case, then maybe you could leave me alone. I mean, you just said you like that."

He grins wider and moves closer to her. He ignores her statement and asks, "How about a dance, then?"

Hayley snaps, "How about a hell no?"

"Come on." He tries again, slipping his hand on her waist. "

That's when Hayley loses her patience and pries it away from her body, twisting it around in an intricate angle. His eyes widen in distress and she just glares at him, saying lowly, "Touch me again and it'll be the last thing you ever do, got it?"

"What seems to be the problem here?"

Hayley looks up at the voice that is unmistakably Elijah's. "No worries. I'm handling the situation just fine." She turns back on the man whose wrist is still in her hand. "You can go now. I think we're done here." She lets go of it, throwing at him.

The man just glares at her, despite the fear in his eyes and walks away.

Hayley sighs and returns to her drink, as if the man hadn't distracted her from her quest of brooding at all.

Elijah takes the man's place in front of Hayley, offering her a smile. "With the violence that you've just displayed towards that young man, I fear for the others who attempt to comply what he had failed to do."

"Great." She drawls on. "I have all night to break each of their wrists." Hayley says, crossing her arm across her chest, her fingers closing around her waist. "It'll keep me entertained."

Elijah slips his hands in his pockets, eyeing her before saying, "Do I have the same fate as them if I tell you that you look very lovely tonight?"

Hayley bites back a smile. "No." She admits. Tonight, she's wearing a gray dress with ling sleeves, a sweetheart neckline and lace fabric. The dress hugs the curves of her body and only loosens up around mid-thigh until the fabric pools around her feet. The silk fabric of the same color is wrapped around her waist, defining it very well with its tightness, topping off the whole style. She thought she doesn't look bad when she stared at herself in the mirror earlier but hearing the words from Elijah is another thing entirely.

"You look very lovely tonight."

Hayley just smiles at him. She'll admit, she would never tire of the way he impeccably dresses. From his daily suits to his grand tuxedos, he never fails to give impressive and expensive clothing justice.

He raises his eyebrows at her. "Not enjoying yourself, I take it?"

"Are you kidding? Live music by some band I don't give a damn about, champagne and not scotch to drink, the host standing right across the room and me resisting every urge in every fiber of my being not to decapitate her – I'm having the time of my life."

Elijah laughs under his breath. "Your sarcasm never fails to amuse me, really."

"Glad to know you have a funny bone in your body." Then she lowers her voice. "What are we really doing here, anyway? I know you and Klaus have your own plans but I feel like nothing will come out of this, it feels like a complete waste of time."

"I assure, it is not." He looks at something over her shoulder. "I would very much like to ask you to dance right now but I afraid I have a few responsibilities to prioritize." He eyes her intently and then reaches hi hand out to set aside a stay hair on her cheek, his thumb brushing the skin gently. "Save me a dance for later?"

"Of course." Hayley says, trying to forget the fact that for a brief moment, her breath hitched.

He moves to walk away but before he does, his hand from her face drops to her waist and whispers in her ear so lowly, "I'll tell you about what I found out at home. No secrets, remember?" And no more than that, he turns his back on her and walks away.

Hayley watches his retreating back. He looks so poised and aloof, with his hand in his pocket and confident stride. She tries to think of anyone else that could be compared to him and fails. This is exactly the reason why she's drawn to him.

•••

Hayley manages to slip past two guards and finally reaches the upstairs lounge. She closes the double doors behind her and walks through the empty room. She chose to go here since this is where she knew Klaus kept his finest alcohol. She had eyed but many times but can never have a taste because of her pregnancy. But now, she's more than free to do so.

She walks over to the table and takes the crystal bottle and a glass and leaves the room.

With her history of living here for months – most days of which were spent holed up here, being forbidden to leave – she knows the most discreet ways to the places she wants to go to. Right now, she's taking a route that is more than familiar to her.

Hayley enters her old bedroom, only to find it the same, only clearly unoccupied. Of course, Francesca and any of her posse wouldn't choose to stay here. It is, after all, one of the smallest rooms. She walks over to the room adjoining it, to the supposed room of her daughter. It's pretty bare now, save for the crib and the rocking chair. She sits on the chair, pours herself a drink and places the bottle on the floor beside her. She takes a sip of the hard liquor and sighs. Not long after, she toes off her shoes and slips the tie from hair, letting it fall down.

After pouring herself another drink, she stares at the crib before her. She imagines her baby girl lying there, safe and sound, with herself watching over her. That's not possible, not right now. She struggles to accept that, as any mother would, but she knows it's essential to do so. She is working everything she can to have her back but in the meantime, her life shouldn't stop.

She lets out a sigh again, leaning back on the chair, her leg crosses over the other while she rocks the chair slowly. When she hear the bedroom door click, she sits up and moves to leave but stops when she sees that it's only Elijah.

"I was wondering where you were." He says, his hands in his pockets.

Hayley holds out her glass to him. "Scotch?"

Elijah eyes the glass for a moment before taking it. After his sip, he returns it to her and says, "So I gather that the party really is that bad for you."

"I'm sorry." Hayley says. "It's just, I get tired of it sometimes, this world."

Elijah's expression falls. "Oh." Hayley could only imagine that he's thinking that she's never going to be happy when she's near him, being that he only exists in this world. Normal, what she's used to, is something he could easily undermine.

She says quickly. "Don't get me wrong, I don't mean the, uh, aspect of you. I mean the fanciness of everything. I'm still not used to it. Sometimes, I crave the dive bars I frequented way before it became legal for him to drink – that kind of stuff."

"I apologize on behalf of the fanciness of this world." Elijah says. "I'll try to tone it down for you."

Hayley laughs. "As if such a thing is possible, but I appreciate the offer."

"I will say that it's a shame you departed the party. I believe you still owe me a dance."

"Right." She nods. "About that…can we rain check? Save it for an event we both really wanna be in."

"Perhaps at the Mardi Gras. Provided that we are allowed to be in the Quarter."

Hayley raises an eyebrow. "Like being banned would ever stop us."

Elijah smiles at her. He holds out his hand to her. "Let's go home. Let me bring you to a place that you don't feel seething on anyone – with the special exception of my brother, of course."

She wears her shoes again and takes his hand. She places the now empty glass on the shelf and looks around the room one last time. She mumbles, "I miss her."

Elijah's thumb brushes on the back of her hand. He says softly, "I know."

"This room, it's hers and I still somehow feel a remnant of her presence."

"We can stay, if you'd prefer that."

She shakes her head, facing him now. She finds a comforting warm feeling inside of her when she meets his sincere eyes. "Nah, let's go home."

•••

Hayley and Elijah enter the house they've been staying at on the other side of the river. Their hands are still intertwined.

Hayley uses her sharp hearing to find out if Klaus is home but hears no sound. She asks as she steps out of her heels, "Where's Klaus?"

Elijah closes the door behind him. "He insisted to stay behind. I'm afraid he's not yet done with his business with Francesca."

She nods her head.

Elijah eyes her shoes on the floor. "Not too fond of heels?"

"Never been. I'm already tall enough as it is." She looks at Elijah and she suddenly smiles at him. He furrows his eyebrows at her but she just pulls his hand further into the wide foyer.

"Hayley?"

"I owe you a dance, remember?"

Elijah smiles back. "Pardon me, but I believe that we're saving it for a special event?" But he's already holding her hand aloft while the other rests on her waist.

"And this doesn't count?"

"I may consider it." Elijah whispers in her ear and they start swaying.

There is no music but it seems that it doesn't bother them. Hayley rests her hand on his shoulder, feeling the solidness of it. She feels his face rest on the side of her head and his pressing a kiss on her hair.

"This is good." Hayley mumbles before she presses a kiss just below his ear.

"Dancing?" He asks against her hair.

"Well, yes. But to put in a more general way, the simple things." She says softly. Her breath hits his skin and she feels him shudder subtly. "We have a ton of problems to face but it's good to take a breather from them every once in a while."

"It is."

Hayley pulls her face away from his neck and looks at him in the eye. She takes in his definitive features, ones that she had come to know so much and gotten used to. Her gaze drops to his lips and just as she is thinking about it, he beats her into doing it.

Elijah lowers his head and presses his lips against hers softly. For a moment, it's just a gentle pressure and nothing more. Hayley could feel her insides fluttering, something only he can trigger in her. Inevitably, the kiss deepens and the both of them let their emotions run their course. Elijah pushes her against the wall, but not too hard, his entire frame against her. His lips move against her while his hands grip her waist. Hayley could feel the heat deep in her core build up. She feels lightheaded but each of her senses that are associated with him – his touch, his taste, his scent and more – are on high alert. She just couldn't get enough of everything about him.

Her own hand closes on his lapel, fisting the cloth in her palm while the other gets lost in his hair. She could feel herself wanting even more that their kisses but the sensible part of her reminds her that what she and Elijah have is too special to rush, at least with vampire speed anyway. She pulls her lips away from his and their eyes meet. She breathes heavily before saying, "Slow."

Elijah nods his head, smiling sheepishly at her. He pulls his body away from her and only retrieves her hand. He presses a brief kiss on her neck before pulling her from the wall. Hayley smiles back and starts to pull him towards the stairs. He bends down to retrieve her discarded shoes as they pass them, dangling the pair with his two fingers. And then the two of them start making their way up, Hayley ahead of him.

They reach bedroom and Elijah closes the door behind him. He drops her shoes on the floor and her hand for his. Her back is still turned to him. He moves aside her hair and presses a kiss to where her shoulder and neck meet, his hands slipping on her waist. Hayley closes her eyes and basks on the feeling of his lips on her skin. Then, in a painfully slow manner, Elijah starts pulling down the zipper of her dress. Soon, there's a bundle of gray fabric around her feet, leaving her in her undergarments. His hands drag on the bare skin of her sides, his lips still on her skin. She leans her back on his chest, her hand finding her cheek, her hand finding cheek. She feels him press a kiss on her palm.

Losing some of her patience, she says breathlessly, "You've taken the concept of slow to a whole new level."

Elijah whispers in her ear, his breath hot on her skin, "You asked for it."

Despite the shivers down her spine, Hayley giggles under her breath. She turns around and crashes her lips against his. And then she takes over by turning him around and speeds towards the bed, until him back is against one of the wooden posts of the furniture. She mumbles against his lips while she pushes his jacket off his broad shoulders, "Well, now I've changed my mind."

He smirks just as she undoes his tie and pulls open the crisp, white shirt, some of the buttons flying across the room. "I wouldn't argue with that."

Hayley laughs just as she presses numerous kisses on his neck, shoulders and chest. Elijah pushes away from the post and wraps his arm around her waist to bring her to the bed, laying her down the mattress.

•••

"So living for a thousand years does have its perks." Hayley says, her chin resting on his chest. Her arm is bent over his torso, her finger drumming lightly on his skin. "You've certainly picked up a lot of, um, lessons, so to speak…"

Elijah laughs, causing his body to shake under her chin. She smiles sheepishly at him and he gives her an adoring look. He uses his finger to tuck her hair behind her ear before his hand moves to her back, dragging down on the skin until it hits the blanket on the lower part before it moves back up again.

Hayley lets out a sigh. Only this time, it is not an exhausted or frustrated sigh. It's a content sigh and with the way he's smiling at her, she knows that he knows that, too. She turns her head and rests the side of her face n his chest. "Hey, I thought you were gonna tell me what you found out. No secrets, remember?"

"Secrets…" Elijah says slowly.

It takes a long pause for him to continue and while Hayley waits, she worries that their problems with the Guerrera werewolves may have gotten a whole lot worse. But then that thought – or any thought for that matter – wipes from her mind when she hears what he says next.

"I may be falling for you, Hayley." He presses a kiss right at her hairline and Hayley feels something very new. Something so good, it's a mix of happiness, relief and content. Elijah continues, "The other secrets, I'm afraid, would have to wait until tomorrow."

•••

A/N: This is Hayley's dress: . /50ea2c1d338deb2fd8c0eafa3bd1bbed/tumblr_n6bq3zTdxL1qclgtvo1_

I found this picture buried deep in a rarely opened folder in my computer and fell in love with it much like the first time when I saw this GG episode a few years back. I just thought that it's very Hayley Marshall.


	4. (Not) a Letdown

4.) (Not) a Letdown

"Can you please explain this to me again?"

Hayley asks, trying to get more comfortable on the bed by tucking her hands behind her head. She watches Elijah's back, as he is sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling on his shoes.

Elijah turns his head to peak at her before turning back to tying up his shoelaces. He answers, "Niklaus has asked for my assistance in a quest of looking for this rather powerful coven deep in the mountains of Wyoming."

"Does it have to be in Wyoming? I mean, I don't even remember what's in there." Hayley grumbles. She shifts her body to lie on her side, leaning on her elbow. "And that says a lot about a place."

"Have you ever even been in that part of the country?" Elijah quips, looking down on her with an amused look on his face.

Hayley swats his arm, despite her grin. "Hey! I'll have you know that I am a well-traveled person." She pauses. "In the wilderness, anyway."

Elijah laughs and drops a kiss on her temple before turning his back on her again, sitting up straight. He's buttoning up his cuffs when Hayley wraps her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder. He looks at her, his face barely inches away from her. "I find it endearing when you pout." He says before he looks away again.

She runs her hand up and down his shoulder. She whispers, "I just get nervous when you and Klaus keep on going on these escapades."

"You, my darling," he's done with the buttoning and moves his hands on her arms, "are forgetting that I am an Original vampire. The only weapon that can kill us will be very far away from where we are going, and therefore cannot be used against us."

"You'd be surprised with what the witches can come up with." She mumbles. "Especially from a notoriously powerful coven."

"That is true." Elijah says. "But Hayley, I have been around in much more dangerous situations than this and yet, here I am, still in my prime in my thousand years of age."

Hayley smiles. "You know, it's unattractive when you point out how old you are."

Elijah's shoulders shake against her as he laughs. "Yes and you have never yet failed to remind me."

She drops a kiss on the back of her neck, right at where his hair ends. He takes her hand in his and presses a kiss on it before gently releasing himself from her hold. He stands up in front of her and starts pulling on the jacket that was hanging on the footboard. Once he looks all ready to go, Hayley kneels on the bed so she can level with him. Her hands run up his chest, feeling the exquisite quality of the suit, and stop at his shoulders. Elijah leans down and presses his lips to hers. His arms wind around her waist when he steps closer to her. One of his hands slide up her back, roaming on the cotton fabric of her black tank top before finally reaching her skin and then up still, to her hair. His fingers bury in the mess of her dark locks. The kiss deepens as Hayley pulls at his neck. In one swift motion, Elijah shifts her position of kneeling to lying down on the middle of the mattress, with him on top of her. He uses his hand to carry his weight while the other is dragging up her side.

Hayley mumbles when Elijah moves his lips down her jaw and neck, "And here I thought you were in a hurry."

He says against her neck, "For you? Never."

From downstairs, Klaus bellows, "Elijah!"

Hayley giggles when Elijah rests his forehead against her shoulder, sighing heavily. Her fingers scratch on the back of his head. "Maybe you should go before your brother annihilates you for not being able to keep your hands off me."

Elijah moves his body to her side, leaning up on his elbow. His other hand is running circles on her hip, on the fabric of her jeans. "Maybe I should." He agrees, leaning down to kiss her softly and briefly on the lips. When he pulls away, he wraps an arm around her and stands up from the bed, pulling her along with him. Hayley lets out a soft giggle when her frame bumps into his in the process. They get out of the room with their hands together.

Hayley pads her socked feet on the floor as they make their way downstairs. They see Klaus standing in the middle of the foyer, an impatient look on his face. She and Elijah stop near the bottom of the stairs, leaning against the railing and looking down on Klaus.

Klaus says in a bored manner, "Oh, good. Here I thought you would never come." He smirks on the layers of his remark. As if it really matters, he says, "No pun intended."

Hayley rolls her eyes. "No kidding, Klaus."

"Yes, well," he turns to Elijah, "brother, we must get going before we lose the element of surprise and give those witches a chance to run."

"Of course, you're going to see them against their knowing and will." Hayley says. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Yes, Niklaus do has a knack for...invading people in their homes." Elijah says.

"That and many other things as well." Klaus agrees.

Hayley's eyebrows furrow. "Maybe I should come with you guys."

Elijah looks up at her, as she is a step a higher from him. "There's no need, Hayley. This is a rather easy task. Expect us to be back in three days, at the most."

"Besides," Klaus says, "I need you here to stand guard."

Hayley raises her eyebrows at him. "What am I, some watchdog while you guys leave the house for a vacation?"

"Considering you're half-werewolf—"

Elijah cuts in, "I believe what he's trying to say is that there is no one else we trust more to keep an eye on things around here other than you." He pauses. "And maybe you can keep Marcel in check. I gather that he's been too antsy to snap the necks of the werewolves in the Quarter. This is not the time to do that just yet."

Hayley sighs. "Fine."

"So it's settled then." Klaus says then he goes out of the front door, without another word.

Hayley looks down at Elijah. "Be careful."

He gives her a soft smile. "Always." He steps up, kisses her softly and then after one last squeeze on her hand, he lets it go and leaves the house, too.

When the sun had set, Hayley decides to visit the bayou. She gets out of her car and slips her hands into her coat pocket. She smiles at one of the guys in her pack that is cutting wood. "Hey, how are things around here?"

The guy smiles. "Busy, as always."

Hayley nods and pats him on the back when she passes by him. She sees Jackson sitting on a camping chair in front of the bonfire. She greets some of the people around as she makes her way to him. She stops beside him, looking down at him. "Hey."

Jackson looks up and smiles, though it's a bit strained. "Hayley. You didn't say you were coming."

"Last minute decision." She says and sits on the empty chair beside him. "How's it going?" They haven't talked in a while. She's trying to act out her grief for the supposed death of her baby and she can't stand lying to Jackson. She understands that it's forbidden to tell him anything so she resolved to keeping her space. It's just better that way.

"You tell me." He says. "You've been through a lot, considering..." He hesitates on continuing but she knows what he means. He even looks guilty for bringing it up.

She sighs. "I've been fine." Now, that's not exactly a lie. "Elijah's been great...Klaus, too."

Jackson nods. "That's good to hear."

"I hope you, um, you're not mad for my not being around here." Hayley says. "It's important that you get that they're my family, too. And Klaus...we're not exactly best buds but I gotta admit that we need each other. Especially now."

"Uhuh. And Elijah, too, right? Word on the street is that you've been you've been shacking up in his bedroom most nights." He says.

Hayley is set back by the tone of his voice, the edginess in it. Her expression hardens. "That's not your business."

He shrugs. "I'm just saying, you're grieving and if he's taking advantage of you, I'll give him a bite or two." He says it almost nonchalantly, as if it's no big deal. "I don't care if it doesn't kill him. I can make the crucial hallucinations a daily routine."

Hayley glares at him. She lowers her voice, but it's just as cold as her stare. "Stay out of it, Jackson. You're pissed about Oliver's two-face, half-assed act—I get that. But don't take it out on Elijah. Or I'll take you down myself. And I don't even wanna go there." She stands up and storms off.

As she reaches her car, she suddenly senses someone watching her. Her hand leaves the door handle and turns around. All she sees are trees in the dark. But she still has the gnawing feeling inside of her. She starts walking through the trees, with only the moonlight to guide her.

Hayley is a little too far from where the werewolves have set their camp in when her phone vibrates. She looks down on the device and answers Jackson's call.

He says, "Hayley? Look, I'm sorry. I was a jerk."

She sighs. "It's fine, Jackson."

"Just come back here. Hang around for a while."

"Yeah, okay. I'll—" She says but stops when she hears a twig snap. She turns to the direction of the sound but sees nothing.

And that's when someone grabs hold of her shoulders from behind. She accidentally drops her phone on the ground and tries to struggle out of the hold and successfully pries the arms away from her neck. She turns to face the person and does not recognize him. With her exceptional vampire speed, she snaps his neck and he drops on the ground.

Breathing heavily, Hayley looks down on her supposed captor's face properly but really doesn't recognize him. And that's when, without her knowing, her own neck gets snapped.

Hayley opens her eyes and finds herself chained to a chair in a small dim room. The only source of light is coming from the small barred window on the metal door. She observes her surroundings and it's pretty much bare bones. In the room, it's only her, nothing else. Her coat had been taken off, leaving her in her tank top, which is apparently soaked in blood.

As she's trying to wriggle her wrist from the chain, the door bursts open. For a second, she hopes that it's anyone who is there to help her but the scent that hits her senses drops that dream. She'd know that scent anywhere, having nothing but hatred for it. Francesca Guerrera.

Francesca stands at the doorway, smiling at Hayley. "Oh, good. You're awake." She walks further into the room. One of her male posse walks into the room to hand her a wooden stake and then leaves. She spins the stake in her hands as she says, "Now, we can get started."

Hayley groans loudly when Francesca stabs her leg with the wooden stake. There's already one on her shoulder and another on her arm. Every heavy breath she takes, every shift of her chest, aches her entire body.

"Oh, Hayley." Francesca drones. "Do you really have to be this difficult? I asked you one question, just answer it." She even manages to sound sweetly, as if she's purring to her child.

"Why, so you can give me more crap about their existence?" Hayley manages to get out. "I've had enough already."

Francesca clucked. "Just tell me." She crosses her arms. "Answer the question and we'll send you on your way. What is Klaus and Elijah up to? Their snooping is suspecting and frankly, a lot more annoying. And don't get me started on the havoc they wreaked. I have a lot of mess to clean up this week alone. It's not easy to lead this town, you know."

Hayley snorts. "Hey, you wanted this. Now, you're gonna complain about the consequences like a little bitch that you are?"

Francesca glares at her. She takes out the stake in her arm and stabs her on the chest, very near her heart. Near enough that she could feel the wood grazing against it. Hayley's screams fill the room. Francesca grasps her neck and snaps at her, "Shut up. If you weren't so devoted to the Mikaelsons and so goddamn annoying, I would've offered you allegiance."

Hayley gasps, "You're seriously bringing that up now?"

Francesca grips her neck harder, her nails practically puncturing wounds. "I'm just telling you what you're missing out on. It would be a huge plus to have royalty on my side. But I'm glad I didn't. It would be difficult to lead when there's a queen overshadowing me."

Hayley whispers, "You can torture me all you want, but I will never side with you...same goes for telling about their plans."

Francesca grips her harder and Hayley's practically no longer breathing but lets it go. She watches the girl hunch over and catch her breath while she flexes her fingers. She leaves the room for a moment, but comes back.

Hayley eyes the bottle that she's holding.

Francesca opens the bottle, saying, "You know what's the beauty of you being a hybrid? You have two weaknesses. Vervain and wolfsbane." She smirks when Hayley's eye widen. "Yes, I know. What to pick, what to pick, what to pick?" She walks closer to her. "But I opted to just have them both." She grips Hayley's jaw and forces her to drink the substance.

Hayley could feel her inside burning and all she could do is take me. Her arms and legs struggle in the chain that they are in, unable to stop what is happening. When she had drunk all of the contents, Francesca lets go of her and throws the bottle away.

Francesca waits for her, with her hands on her hips. "Well?"

After a few deep breaths, Hayley replies, "I stand by what I said."

"I am losing my patience, Hayley." Francesca says. "You're forcing me to be drastic."

"This isn't drastic enough for you?"

Francesca laughs. "Not even a little bit." She leans her hands on the arm rests of her chair, leaning close to her. She whispers, "Just give in and I'll even ensure that you are safe."

Hayley stares at her directly in the eyes. Her safety matters but it isn't her first priority. With all of the strength that she could muster, she collides her forehead with Francesca's as hard as she could. She watches as the woman hunches over, holding her forehead in her hands.

After a moment, Francesca looks up, looking really angry now. "I am done holding back." She punches her fist into Hayley's chest, grabbing hold of her heart.

Hayley's eyes widen, not even getting a word out.

Francesca bellows, "I am not going to ask again, Hayley."

Hayley just whispers, "Just kill me already. Get it over with. "

Francesca smirks vindictively. "Not just yet. I'm just getting ready to bargain." She says. "So the hoax you tried sell, about your baby's death. See, I don't buy it."

Hayley couldn't help it. Her eyes widen at her words. That action alone confirms her suspicions.

"I am gonna find that child and I am gonna kill her. Wouldn't it be hard to protect her from me if you are dead? You reveal everything and I'll let you live. Just a nod is all I need."

Hayley struggles with the decision now. Numerous possible outcomes comes through her head but the biggest thing in mind right now is her daughter.

But then, her gaze drifts over to the open door behind Francesca. She sees the head of the man who was assisting Francesca earlier on the floor, seemingly unconscious. She gambles on her near-impossible case and hopes if there really is someone out there to help her. She turns back to Francesca and nods.

Francesca smirks again and withdraws her hand from inside Hayley. But before she even gets a word out, a pair of hands—hands that Hayley is very familiar with—snaps her neck.

Hayley doesn't even look at Francesca's body crashing on the floor. Her eyes just stays on the person who helped her. She sighs in relief. Elijah.

Elijah doesn't even take another moment. He immediately pulls out the stakes in Hayley's body, pulls out the chains and gathers her in his arms. He kisses her temple before she rests her head on his shoulder and he carries her out of the premises.

Hayley wraps her cardigan-covered arms around her as she walks down the hall of the house. The strong wind coming from the window swishes her hair that had fallen from her ponytail and the ends of her sundress.

Klaus comes out of a room and sees her.

She stops walking in front of him. A questioning look on her face.

To her surprise, though, he holds her forearms, giving it a comforting squeeze. "You continue to surprise me."

A small smile forms on Hayley's face. "Always."

Klaus smiles back and lets go of her. When he starts walking away, Hayley calls back.

"Our daughter...she's gonna be fine, right?" She asks.

Klaus turns back to face her. "Well, we are doing our best to ensure that, aren't we?"

Hayley nods. She just needs this, the reassuring look from Klaus. They are partners in this and one cannot accomplish just as well without the other. Taking a deep breath, she makes her way to the room Klaus recently came from.

She sees Elijah standing outside through the open doors of the balcony. His back turned on her but she knows that he is aware that she just entered the room. She walks closer and leans against the doorway of the balcony.

Elijah asks, turning briefly to see her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." She answers.

He nods and turns back, resting his hands on the railing.

Hayley furrows her eyebrows. She could tell that something is wrong. Something is bothering him. Well, something bigger than usual. "Elijah?"

He starts to say, "I couldn't forgive myself for letting this happen to you."

Hayley's eyebrows raise in surprise. She walks out to the balcony and stands beside him, her hand on his arm. "You didn't let this happen. This isn't your fault."

"I made a promise to you. I swore that I will protect you always. I gave you my word." He sighs and turns to face her. "If it wasn't for Jackson getting worried that you didn't come back like you said, I would've taken three days before I come for you. You could be..." He looks down. "I-I can't even finish the thought. I could not break my word to you. Not again."

Before she could stop herself, she scoffs, dropping her hand on his arm. "Is this why you do these things for me? You just couldn't break your streak of fulfilled promises?" She shakes her head. "Unbelievable." She turns away and briefly paces on the balcony, crossing her arms again.

"You do not understand." Elijah says, sharply now. More serious. "This is a promise made to you." He gestures his hand to her. "You are the one person I have believed that I would die trying not to fail." He falters then whispers, almost defeatedly, "And yet I did."

Hayley's expression softens. "Elijah." She walks closer back to him. "You did not fail me. You never did. And I trust that you never will."

Elijah's hand cups her neck, his thumb on her cheek, brushing lightly. He says lowly, "You think so highly of me when I could easily be beneath you."

"Yeah, can you blame me, though?" She says, smiling now. She cups her hand over his wrist and leans up to kiss him on the lips. Just a soft press, enough to stir her insides in a way that only Elijah can trigger.

When they pull away from each other, Hayley wraps her arms around his neck and he reciprocates the hug by wrapping his arms around her waist. She presses a kiss on his neck and mumbles near his ear, "Today, when I was step away from death, when I have given up on myself, there's a part of me that you would come. I may end up in complicated situations but you always manage to save me. Like I said, you have not failed me."


	5. Such a Thing to Conquer All

5.) Such a Thing to Conquer All

No matter how much Elijah wants to deny it, to forget about this, he couldn't. It's beyond ridiculous to even wish for this. He had done it and he should face the consequences bravely. For God's sake, he's Elijah Mikaelson. He does not make decisions like this and feels ashamed about it. He does not fret all because of one woman's opinion.

But then, who is he kidding? He may be Elijah Mikaelson but the one person he could feel himself inferior to is Hayley. And he had done the one thing he had thought – no, prided himself – that he wouldn't do. He had betrayed her.

He stands in the hallway, outside her closed bedroom door. He knows she's there, he could hear her shuffling around, her breathing, her heartbeat. And yet, he does not go in. He feels pathetic that he couldn't face her.

For a thousand years, before Hayley, he had fallen in love twice. He had both honored them with all of him and all the he could give. He had been faithful to them and all of their wishes. And now, he had failed. He had failed Hayley.

Elijah's mind is filled with thoughts on this ordeal but his senses are, as always, on high alert. He senses a presence in the hallway. Without breaking his gaze on the door, he says, "I would appreciate, brother, that you let me have this moment alone."

Klaus stands a few feet away from him. His arms are crossed and his frame is leaning against the wall. A smirk is plastered on his face. "But where's the fun in that? Forgive me, but I find your cowardice towards this lady rather amusing. You've completely succumb to her power over you."

Elijah faces him, completely aware that Hayley could hear them. He says calmly but his voice on edge, "Leave. Now."

Klaus holds his hands up in surrender then walks away.

Elijah sighs at his brother's retreating back. Despite the rather awkwardness of the situation with them (the uncle of Klaus' child is in love with the mother), Klaus had been very considerate and had maintained his respectful distance towards Elijah's relationship with Hayley. But of course, this excludes the catty side remarks that only he finds amusing. Nevertheless, Elijah is thankful that he has his brother's blessing.

He turns back on the door. He plays out the possibilities of this talk and majority of them are not pleasant. Still, he musters up his courage and walks over to it. He opens the door, knowing fully well that if he knocks, Hayley wouldn't even open it for him.

Her bedroom is empty and dim, as the only sources of light are the lone lamp on the nightstand and the open bathroom. He walks to the bathroom and sees Hayley in a deep blue robe and washing her face. Elijah remains at the doorway. Hayley looks up at him through the mirror, Her face is nothing short of angry, no matter how seemingly repressed it is. He waits for her to finish wiping her face with a towel.

After that, she says, "Finally, you come in. Thought you never would."

"I did, too." Elijah says softly.

Hayley turns around and leans her back on the counter, her arms crossed. "Well, now that you're here, I could tell you to leave."

"Hayley–"

"What, you could command Klaus to leave and yet, I can't to you?"

"This is different. Niklaus had nothing more important to say."

"Oh, and you do?" Hayley snaps and Elijah flinches in the subtlest way possible.

He answers, "Yes, I do."

She scoffs. "I beg to differ."

"Hayley." Elijah says softly. "Please."

"Of course. What did I expect?" She pushes herself off the counter. "Judging from today's events, you wouldn't be doing any of the few things that I ask you to."

"Please let me talk." Elijah starts.

Hayley pushes past him as she goes to the bedroom. He follows her. She faces him. "What, so you can explain? How can you have an explanation for this?"

"My explanation would not matter. In fact, I will not explain. I will not use anything to excuse myself from this because the explanation has nothing to do with us. No matter how tied up I was in the situation. I have betrayed you and I am here to apologize." He takes a deep breath. "Please give me the opportunity to express how deeply sorry I am. Listen to me. I–"

"Betrayed me." She echoes before she bellows, "You threatened my family! You held them captive, forced the truth out of them, gave them a miserable time. My family. You, of all people, did horrible things to my blood. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? This is my family and the man that I am with has no respect for them." She runs her hand through her hair, sighing deeply.

Elijah's jaw clenches. He couldn't argue. She is right. Of course she is right.

She shakes her head, sitting on the window seat. She leans her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands. After a moment, she looks up at him. Her voice is lowered now. But Elijah is no fool. He knows this is more serious, more dangerous. "You are proclaimed to be noble. Basically branded to be the best of the Mikaelsons. You…are so good, so kind, so…"

Elijah looks down on the floor. He couldn't meet her sincere gaze and listen to those words at the same time because she's saying them out of frustration.

Hayley continues, "I mean, you basically honored a 200-year-old promise, so hellbent on not breaking it, even if it doesn't make a difference anymore if you don't." She shakes her head defeatedly. "I – am I stupid to think that you would do the same for me? I believed that you would and clearly, I was wrong."

Elijah looks up at her again, his eyes pleading. "Hayley, I made a mistake. And for that, I am very sorry. But you must not use this mistake to change your mind about me because I haven't changed. I am still the man who you could rely on. I am still the man who would do his best not to fail you, not again."

She gnaws on her lower lip for a fleeting moment before saying, "I don't know what to believe in right now."

Elijah walks up to her, crouching down. He takes her hand in his and sighs in relief when she doesn't pull away from his touch. He looks up at her glistening eyes and says softly, "You can believe me."

Hayley stares back for a long time. Elijah could only observe her features and he sees the frustration in her eyes. His heart breaks for that look and worse still, it's directed to him. He says with all of the sincerity he could offer, "I love you, Hayley. No matter how many mistakes you and I make, that will never change. You can believe that."

Much to his dismay, she pulls away and stands up. She paces the room, avoiding his eyes. Elijah stands up and doesn't remove his gaze on her as she moves around. When she finally stands still and faces him again, her expression is hard, still. But what really catches Elijah's attention are the tears streaming down her face. It doesn't surprise him that she's holding herself even for him, that she's still determined to not break down. She is that strong.

"I don't – I don't know ho I am gonna get past this." She says.

Every amount of strength in Elijah is crumbling down. They stare at each other for so long. He couldn't even get a word out. His lips just remain parted slightly, only air getting in and out. He relies on the reaction of his face. He could only hope that Hayley could see though him and understand all of the emotion stirring up inside of him.

She continues, "But I love you so much, Elijah. I do. You are the most important person to me, other than my daughter. I have done everything I could to be with you. I am here with you, I live with you. I am supposed to be betrothed to someone else and I could be falling for him right now on my own if it wasn't for you. There are so many things that I have done differently because of you. That's how much you mean to me."

Elijah could feel that her disappointment in him is too for her to bear. One of his greatest fears, he feels, is about to come true. He had lost her once, believed that she had died. He thought that was the one thing he couldn't bear to imagine and he had experienced it firsthand. Now, his fears have gone up to another level and he is terrified that she could leave him again but this time, she had actually chosen to.

Hayley wipes her cheeks, walks to the bathroom to turn off the light and walks over to her bed. She unties her robe and takes it off, revealing a creamy nightie underneath. After hanging the robe on the footboard, she gets into bed, her stare not meeting his.

Elijah takes this as a sigh to finally leave the room. He lowers his head and starts to walk towards the door but stops abruptly when Hayley speaks up again.

"Come to bed, Elijah. Let's just sleep it off."

He turns around, his expression astonished. He watches her lift the blanket on the right side of the bed for him to come in.

She continues, "We'll feel better in the morning."

Relief washes over him. He walks over to the bed. She's not even watching him, just staring at the ceiling and that makes him nervous all over again. Nevertheless, he takes off his jacket and shoes first. He hangs the jacket neatly on the footboard. Next, his tie and belt, which he hands on top of his jacket. He folds his sleeves up his elbows and finally gets into bed with her. For a while there, they just lay side by side, not even their sides touching. Elijah could feel the subtle heat of her body radiating towards him and it kills not being able to touch her.

In the dark, he says, "I love you, Hayley. I understand that you grew up not hearing and feeling that you are loved and it would break me if you would experience that again because it's not true. I love you." He sighs heavily. "It would tire you of hearing it but I will not in saying it."

Suddenly, he feels Hayley's hand closing in around his. Their fingers weave together tightly. And just like that, they are connected again, physically and emotionally.

She says, "I know. I know. I love you, too. This is why I'm going to let this go. I don't know how, but I'm gonna try. I'm forgiving you because I love you and I don't wanna lose you."


	6. Swim in Serendipity

6.) Swim in Serendipity

Hayley wakes up with the sun shining on her, the air light and the feeling of happiness glowing in her. She almost doesn't want to get up. If she's allowed to – if the abundance of things she has to attend to don't exist – she would stay in bed, indulging in the cotton softness of the pillows and comforter and the feeling Elijah's arms around her while he whispers sweet nothings in her.

But…

She shifts to face the other side of the bed and sees it empty, save for a single white rose resting on his pillow. She furrows her eyebrows at the flower. Sure, a lot of women would find it insanely romantic to wake up to a flower left for them by their men. But Hayley isn't like them. She would much prefer to wake up with her man beside her. Still though, there is no shame in appreciating the wondrous wok of nature. She reaches for the flower and holds it up to her nose. It's her favorite scent in the world. She smiles. She knows for a fact that Elijah is well aware of this.

After showering and getting dressed, she makes her way downstairs and to the living room. Since she's now a hybrid, she finds it odd that thing she does to start up her day is not rummage for cereal and milk. Not anymore.

In the living room, she sees Elijah sitting on one of the lounge chairs, reading an ancient heave duty book. She leans against the doorway, her arms crossed against her chest.

He greets her without looking up, merely turning the crisp, aged, brown page of the book. "Good morning, dear. Did you sleep well?"

Hayley ignores the greeting and just says bluntly, "Just so you know, I am all for sweet gestures but in the mornings, maybe you can skip them and just stay in bed with me."

Elijah looks up at her, his eyebrows raised and a slight smile on his face. Hayley couldn't help the leaping of her heart at the sight. He looks so endearing as he smiles sweetly at her, with the sunlight coming from the large window behind him basking around his frame. "Not to offend you, but what you just said is partly a lie. I know for a fact that you are not in favor of sweet gestures."

"Well, good." She says simply. "Then you get my point."

He closes the books and places it on the side table. He stands up and speeds up to her, very close to her. "I apologize for my absence when you woke up this morning–"

"Each morning that you sleep in my bed."

He relents. "Each morning that I sleep in you bed, right. I'm afraid I had some business to attend to this morning."

Hayley raises her eyebrows. "At dawn?"

"Those witches can be quite peculiar with their time preferences." The back of his curled fingers lightly brush her jaw. His voice lowers, "You know just as well as I do that it pains me to leave you behind so I compensate with a few substitutes. For example, your favorite scent in the world. It's beyond convenient that we have them growing in our backyard."

"Oh, yeah. Totally." She nods her head. "You know what's also convenient? Compulsion. Case in point, you compelling someone to grow those flowers."

He smiles. "I did not know you are aware of that."

"Hey, you're not the only one who knows everything in this household."

"Everything, huh?" Elijah mumbles and Hayley could sense the doubtfulness behind it. He kisses her cheek gently and her hand brushes his chest, just about to curl her fingers around his deftly knotted tie. But he pulls away from her. The reason behind this is Klaus making his way down the stairs.

Klaus eyes them, eyebrows raised quirkily. "Don't mind me. I'm just the terminally assigned third wheel in this household."

"Why don't you get yourself a treat of your own? You know, so you can stop breathing down our necks?" Hayley's gaze follows him as he enters the room and lounges on the couch. "Maybe that blonde girl you've been lusting over. Ca – oh, wait." She pauses. "I don't know which blonde I'm referring to. Little help, Elijah?"

Elijah says, "I suggest you go with Cami. That girl is not aware of the intricate details of the horrors you've orchestrated in the last millennium."

Hayley smirks. "That's a huge plus."

"You talk all high and mighty," Klaus smirks back, his arms stretched on the backrest of the couch, as he says to Hayley, "but you're forgetting, sweetheart, that I represent one of the checkmarks on your bedpost."

The easy smile on Hayley's face drops. "I didn't sleep with you, the scotch did."

"Whatever to keep yourself from going mad." Klaus shrugs. He turns to Elijah, "So brother, what is on the agenda for today? Anything particular that you need to get on with?" He eyes him intently.

Hayley could sense that Klaus' words mean a lot more than what it would normally suggest. She eyes the both of them suspiciously.

Elijah holds his brother's stare for a long while before finally saying, "I have a few errands to run."

"Do any of them include this lady right here?" Klaus nods at Hayley.

"Am I missing something?" She asks.

He looks at her amusedly. "Yes, love. Something that you would find very surprising, I'm sure."

"Niklaus." Elijah says, sharply now. As if it's some sort of warning. "Perhaps we could have a word outside?"

"I'm fine right here." Klaus counters nonchalantly.

"Elijah?" Hayley sends him a skeptical look.

He turns to her, a smile on his face again. "Nothing to worry about. My brother is just being coy about nothing."

Hayley nods but remains unconvinced.

Klaus mumbles, "If you say so, Elijah." He stands up. "Well, I'm off. I have a particular errand to run as well, but in the wilder part of Louisiana."

"I'll come." Hayley volunteers. If Elijah isn't going to tell her whatever it is he and Klaus are going on about, she will find out herself. She does have a knack for espionage. And right now, Klaus is the gateway to the information that she wants.

"Sorry?" Elijah asks, surprised.

Klaus continues to smirk. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." She shrugs. "I haven't been in the bayou for a while and I gotta say, I kinda miss it."

Elijah eyes her warily but remains silent about it. Instead, he says, his hand brushing the back of her head, his fingers burying in her hair, "Well, be careful, as always."

Klaus says, "Don't worry, brother. I will eye her like a hawk positioned to claim its prey." Then he makes his way for the door.

"That's not disturbing." Hayley mumbles sarcastically. "At all." She kisses Elijah on the cheek briefly before following Klaus out of the house.

•••

"So this is fun." Hayley deadpans as she follows Klaus hike up in the woods. She inhales the crisp, woodsy smell in the air happily.

"Ah, yes." Klaus responds, not even turning back to face her. "The hunting of the body of a bloody Guerrera werewolf that just so happens to be a crucial element in our quest for justice and power…it can never top a killing spree, Mardi Gras or sex."

Hayley rolls her eyes. "Glad to know that there are other options than killing someone just to put a smile on your face."

"Right." He laughs. "Our night full of scotch. Tell me, did I have a warm smile on my face then?"

"Will you stop it with the references to that night?" She snaps. She lowers her voice. "Our daughter ought to be an enough of a reminder."

"If it make you feel any better," Klaus holds up a low branch and lets her pass through, "it's great that you've gotten these thoughts of me out of your head, or at the very least, find them so repulsive. Otherwise, this little arrangement of our family will only get more dysfunctional by the second."

Hayley continues walking ahead of him now, crossing her arms. "Yeah, well, you were never my first choice to have a child with. No offense."

"It was never really in my choice to have a child." He mimics her. "No offense."

She falters. "You don't…you don't regret it, do you?"

Klaus softens in the most subtle way possible. "I did, but not anymore."

"Since when?"

He lowers his voice now. So very low that even Hayley's unnaturally sharp hearing barely hears. "Ever since I found the urge to protect her in every way that I can. And well, you also, since you're family."

Hayley doesn't respond to that. She just lets a small smile form on her face.

"So what are you really doing here?" He asks.

"What?"

"You being here is not just for your great love of trees, I presume."

Hayley shrugs. "Why, I can't hang out with you? Since we're, as you just said, family."

Klaus eyes her apprehensively. "You're not being possessed by some witch, are you?"

She scoffs. "You're an ass."

Klaus smirks again. "Now, there's the Hayley I am used to."

"Yeah, and the Hayley you know so much isn't cool with being out of the loop either."

He laughs. "As much as I would love to spill everything, being on the bad side of my dear, righteous has not been on my sights lately."

Hayley stops walking and turns to face him, making him stop also. "Guess what, Klaus? You don't want to be on my bad side either."

He sniggers. "This is why I even gave you a second glance in the first place. Dealing with you is never a walk in the park." He says simply, "But the thing is, darling, you don't scare me."

"Sure, but do you even want me to be more of a raging bitch than I already am?"

"I do like my challenges."

"Klaus." She snaps. "Come on. Just tell me." When she receives no response, she continues. "You know, after all that we've been through, I can't believe that I even thought for a second that you and I finally have some sort of understanding."

Klaus eyes her amusedly. "You know what? Fine, I'll tell you. But only because I find it amusing to do so."

Hayley grins. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it? Now, tell me."

He smirks. "My brother has a ring for you." He watches Hayley's smile drop, only for his own to grow larger. "A gold band with a sizable colorless diamond on it."

Hayley's lips part in shock. A ring? She's not an idiot. She knows this is an engagement ring. Elijah's going to propose.

She turns away from Klaus, running her hands through her hair, breathing deeply now. Then, out of panic and shock, she speeds towards Klaus and pushes him with all of her strength. He tumbles upon a tree but recovers fast. She shouts, "Why the hell would you tell me that?!"

Klaus furrows his eyebrows at her while he straightens himself. "You just asked for it."

"Yeah, well, Klaus, to tell someone that she's about to be proposed to is such a dumb thing to do." She snaps angrily.

He chuckles. "I think it's a little late for you to act all hormonal on me."

"I can't believe you just told me that!"

"Now, you see why my telling you would be rather amusing?"

She shakes her head at him. "You go find that damn body on your own." She starts walking back to the direction they came from. He just holds up his hands in surrender. When she's a good few feet away she stops when Klaus says something. She uses her vampire hearing to hear it properly.

"For the record, Hayley, you are not just any person and this is why I am grateful that my brother has chosen you to spend the rest of his life with."

She turns around and sees him smiling at her, genuinely this time, in the distance. Then he speeds away, not even a trace of his back in her sight. She sighs and starts making her way back home.

•••

Hayley has been sitting on her bed, her feet tucked under her, as she stares out of the large window. Her thoughts have consumed her awareness so she doesn't notice him enter her room.

"Hayley, is everything alright?"

Startled, she turns to see Elijah standing in the middle of the room, looking at her.

"I…yeah, everything's fine."

"Oh, well, then why would my brother call and tell me that I should check up on you immediately?

Hayley inwardly swears hat she would get back at Klaus in his sleep. She shrugs. "No idea. I just left the woods suddenly when…I stepped on some questionable pile of mud." She makes up, disregarding the fact that this is a rather embarrassing lie and the knot of guilt forming inside of her.

Elijah nods his head, his eyes flickering to her discarded clean shoes on the floor.

Hayley sighs. "Okay, you got me. I just wanted to get out of there, quick."

"Did Niklaus upset you?" He asks as if he's ready to speed towards Klaus and pounce on him. "What did he do?"

"You mean besides existing?" She deadpans before saying, "Nothing. He did nothing wrong." She sees that Elijah doesn't relent. "Really, Elijah." She presses.

He nods. "Okay. But you're – are you okay? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I'm fine." She says simply.

Elijah seems unconvinced but lets her be. "If you say so. Well, I'll be back at the end of the day–"

"Okay."

He sighs a little and then walks up to her to drop a kiss on the top of her head. Then he starts walking away.

Suddenly, purely acting on impulse, Hayley stands up from the bed and blurts out, "Just propose to me already." As soon as the words leave her mouth, her eyes widen in horror.

Elijah stops walking and faces her, beyond astonished by her words.

"Damn." She mutters. "I can't believe I just said that." She turns around, covers her face with her hands and starts pacing around. "Oh, my god. I'm such an idiot."

"Hayley."

She runs her hands through her hair, sighing deeply. She can't even meet his stare.

"Hayley." Elijah walks closer to her and holds onto her arm, stopping her pacing. When she won't look at him, he gently pulls her chin up.

She starts saying, "I'm so, so sorry I just said that. It's just, my mind is full of…I can't think straight. I am such–"

"Stop. That sentence wouldn't be true anyway." He says softly. His hands leaves her chin and rests on her waist instead.

Still, Hayley couldn't get off the case. She tries again, "But I really am sorry. You probably have something planned and I've ruined it." She cringes at the thought of her rashness getting the best of her. Again.

Much to her surprise, Elijah lets out a sheepish laugh. The sound is lively and fun in her ears. She loves it so much when he laughs but even that can't relieve her. Her bad case of uncontrollable babbling is still very fresh in her mind.

He says, "Quite the contrary, actually."

"What?"

"Hayley, I've had the ring for weeks but I have no idea how to get on from there."

"So…you weren't gonna propose just yet because you don't know how?" Hayley asks reluctantly.

Elijah eyes her intently. She could tell that he's thinking something through. Probably plotting on ways to propose. Or maybe kill Klaus himself. She's not sure.

But what Hayley did not expect at all is Elijah reaching for his jacket pocket and withdrawing a small black velvet box. He just holds it up, not opening it.

He says lowly, "It just dawned on me that grand gestures are not necessary just for me to express how much I love you." He smiles slightly. "Just one question would all the difference in the world and I could just simply ask you that. No muss, no fuss."

Hayley is still speechless but her breath hitches when he goes down on one knee and finally opens the box. She stares at the vintage-looking ring with multiple diamonds, the one in the middle bigger than the rest, set in a platinum gold band. The sunlight streaming from the window beside them hits the diamond and it shines impeccably. She's transfixed on the ring for a moment, but not because of its exquisiteness but merely because of the fact that Elijah is giving her this. He could give her a plastic ring from a street fair and she would be just as perplexed. Her gaze moves to Elijah's face when he speaks up.

"Hayley, in all honesty, I couldn't even begin to comprehend how much you mean to me. You are the one person I least expected to fall in love with. And yet, I did. Despite the circumstances of our situation. But when I look at you," he smiles, "at your beautiful face that I can't bear to go through a day without, I see just you, nothing else. I could only wish that I would have the privilege to live the rest of my life with you. Not unless you would let me live that dream." He takes a deep breath. "Hayley Marshall, will you give me the honor of marrying you?"

Hayley takes a deep breath but she could barely contain the huge smile on her face. She says softly, "I can't believe that I basically forced the proposal out of you."

Elijah lets out a chuckle, looking down sheepishly.

Despite the giggles leaving past her lips, Hayley could feel the tears trickling down her face. Finally, she says, "Yes, Elijah. Yes." She watches him stand up, slowly slip the ring on her finger. And then, he takes her hand tenderly in his, admiring it. She meets his eyes and he leans down to kiss her. Hayley slips her hands over his shoulder just as his own are on her waist.

But then, Elijah pulls away from the kiss. His finger moves her hair aside her face as he says, "We do not have to get married right away. I understand if you would much prefer it if we would wait for our family to be complete again."

Her hand cups the side of his face. "We can wait for Rebekah and my daughter."

He nods and presses a kiss on her forehead. He keeps his lips there and Hayley closes her eyes.

She mumbles, "Does this mean you promise to sleep and wake up next to me for the rest of our lives?" She could feel him smiling against her.

"I couldn't promise you that but I will certainly refrain from substituting my presence with trinkets on my pillow."

Hayley giggles and pulls him down for a kiss again.


	7. Random Access Memories

7.) Random Access Memories

Despite the darkness, Elijah finds his way effortlessly to a bedroom he goes to all the time, a room that isn't his. He isn't actually tired (one of the perks of being an Original vampire) but he still feels like he is. Just going through today's events in his head exhausts him and right now, he wouldn't deal with that. He just craves the comfort and company of a certain person.

Elijah reaches the door and soundlessly enters the room. The room itself is dark but he can still see a bit with help of the moonlight coming from the large window. His eyes land on the silhouette lying on the bed. Thankful for the carpeted floor, he silently walks over to it, grabbing the chair by the desk on his way, He sets the chair on the side of the bed, facing her, and sits on it. He stares at Hayley's sleeping face. It's too much of a peaceful sight. It's exactly what he needs.

Hayley's lying on her back, one arm draped over her stomach, just above the blanket and the other is bent under her pillow. Her dark hair is sprawled on the pillow, in perfect contrast with the white covers. Elijah leans back on the chair and lets out a sigh. He watches her, finding comfort in the ease of her breathing.

His day had been just like the others lately. Witches. Werewolves. Vampires. Chaos. Distraught. War. Same things again and again. Oftentimes, in the thousand years that he had existed on this earth, he wonders if he'll ever live his life in peace. In a house in the country, sipping a well-aged scotch and reading the first edition classics that he love so much. Of course, this fantasy is not complete without his loved one to share the luxuries with. But wondering if this is even possible is not the only thing that sets Elijah back. He wasn't even sure who he would share his life with. Celeste Dubois once was the one before her early demise. Katerina Petrova was the longest-running object of this wishful-thinking until she no longer is.

Hayley Marshall has become the object of his dreams now. And better still, she's real and she wants the same things as he does. She is a staple in his family now. She is engaged to him. He is so close to the life he has been yearning for in centuries but not right yet. His home in New Orleans is at a standstill in disarray. Now, he is just working and waiting for peace to finally come. The case is still too complicated that he isn't sure how will he have to continue waiting.

For now, he has Hayley. Even with all the things that he goes through everyday, he is beyond relieved and glad that he can still come home to her, at the end of the day. Even if he hadn't had the privilege of a home for the longest time, when he looks at her, he feels as though it could be enough. In the meantime that everywhere he looks in this city is wreaked havoc, he can just look at her and he could do without a land to call home. She is his home.

Elijah stares at the ring on her finger. He had never given anyone such a ring, such a commitment, before. He will not lose her now. Memories of her receiving a brush from death numerous times in the past year flood his mind every now and then. He is not in favor of this recalling but he understands that it helps in the motivation in protecting her in more ways, in ways that he had failed to do before. He will not lose her again.

Hayley lets out a soft sigh. For a moment, Elijah's brows furrows. This sight is suddenly too familiar. His thoughts drift back to a certain night a few months back.

•••

It's around three in the morning or so. The plantation house is basking in peacefulness. The only room in the house that has its lights on is the library, where the only awake person is in.

Elijah is sitting on one of the leather lounge chairs. On his right arm rest is the glass of scotch that his fingers are supporting and on the left is his bent arm, his fingers tapping absentmindedly on his chin. Both Klaus and Rebekah are out. Whether they are together or not, he is not sure. The only person he is with in this house right now is Hayley and she had been asleep for hours now.

Truth be told, there is a great number of thoughts that should be running in his mind right now but he only focuses on one thing. The only thing that he finds calm and comfort in these days. Through the silence of the house, he could easily hear the shuffling of the sheets, the soft sighs and the steady heartbeat of Hayley. So long as he could hear them, he could rest his mind.

He moves to sip his drink but halfway through, his hand that's holding the glass stops midair. He is suddenly stoic because of the sound of her voice.

Hayley says – though with great ease and softness, to his surprise, "Leave me alone."

That's when Elijah sets his drink on the side table and stands up. He makes his way up to her room in a flash but stops at the closed door. He hesitates for a moment, but recovers quickly and opens the door. He was greeted by the billow of wind and his eyes immediately land on the open windows, the curtains of which are moving wildly. He walks into the room, but sees no intruder, sensing no signs of any other presence at all. His gaze drifts over to Hayley's sleeping figure. The pregnant girl is lying on her back, her hand resting on the large swell of her belly while the other is on the side. Elijah stands there for a moment, transfixed by the way she looks so serene right now. He almost never sees that. She shifts to her side and lets out a soft sigh. Elijah couldn't understand why, but he suddenly gets goosebumps and a shiver down his spine, just at the sound of that up close.

Eventually, Elijah decides that it's time to leave before his presence is discovered. He starts moving towards the door but stops abruptly.

"Go away." She mumbles.

Elijah freezes and suddenly thinks that she is addressing him but when he turns, all ready to explain himself, he sees her still sound asleep. He realizes that she must be dreaming and the things she mutters are associated with that.

"Please, just leave me alone." She whispers again and she sounds so helpless that Elijah's heart drops. She rarely – if at all – sounds like that.

Elijah stands in the middle of the room, unable to figure out what he should do.

Suddenly, she gasps. Only now, her eyes are open. The first thing she sees is, of course, Elijah. She suddenly looks confused. He's about to say something but he's cut off.

Hayley asks surprisedly, her voice rough and thick with sleep, "Elijah? What are – what are you doing here? Is something wrong?" She leans up on her elbow and reaches over to the nightstand to turn on the lamp. Orange light suddenly floods the room.

Elijah looks at her sheepishly, his hand deep in his pockets. "Forgive me. I though someone was here. I was, needless to say, mistaken."

Her eyebrows are still furrowed at him. "What made you think someone was here?"

"You were mumbling things. When I came up here, it appeared that you were dreaming and mumbling in your sleep." Elijah explains.

Now, it's Hayley's turn to look embarrassed. "Oh." She sits up and sighs, blowing hair from her face. She asks, "What did I say?"

Elijah walks further into the room and when she moves to give him space on the mattress, he sits on it, facing her. "It seemed to me that you were being bothered and you were asking them to leave you be."

"Huh." Hayley rushes her hand through her hair. "That sounds about right."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

She smiles slightly, though it's a bit strained. "It's nothing. Just something that is a little relatable to some of my memories."

Elijah nods. "I understand. Can I get you anything? Water, perhaps?"

She shakes her head. "I'm fine." Her gaze travels his frame before it meets his again. "So this is your after-midnight get up."

His eyebrows raise, a soft laugh escaping past his lips. "Sorry?"

"Is this what you really wear to bed?" She nods at his clothes. He had taken off his jacket and tie and had folded up his leaves. He had been wearing this shirt during the day and since so far, he has no plans in going to bed, he hasn't changed.

"I wasn't sleeping, actually." Elijah counters.

"Oh? What, you can't face your bad dreams?" She quips.

"That is considerable, I suppose. But in a less cowardly way."

Hayley shrugs. "Well, whatever it is, it can't worse than reality."

"Actually, I beg to differ." Elijah says. "Our minds know no boundaries, in contrast with reality, and is therefore, more frightening."

"I guess." She pauses.

He continues, "With reality, circumstances don't happen again and again, unless intended to be. But in our minds, memories are uncontrollable, most especially when elicited."

"Like a movie in constant motion."

"Precisely."

Hayley doesn't respond, clearly deep in thought. After a moment, she looks back up at him and says, "The dream…I was dreaming about me when I just got kicked out by my foster parents. I was a teenager and was walking around town, clearly terrified. I was new to all the werewolf stuff, but I knew I was strong. There was this group of boys who were…harassing me. I didn't want to look suspicious so I held back my supernatural wolf strength. But, of course, I lost my patience and eventually, well, gave them a lesson or two." She sighs. "That's what the dream is about. Loosely, anyway. Like different place, time, people. But same circumstance."

"It was an awful time for you." Elijah says.

Hayley nods. "It was."

"But you survived. Thrived a little." He smiles softly. "That's a good outcome from a terrible circumstance, don't you agree?"

"If your definition of good is to knocked up by an occasionally psychotic hybrid, then I guess." She laughs a little. Her hand cups his that his resting on the mattress. She gives it a squeeze. "Thank you, Elijah. You're ridiculously attentive and caring. NO one has ever been for me. No one but you."

"Like I mentioned before, we are family." He says sincerely.

"And I'm gonna hold on to that."

He stares at her eyes intently, getting lost in them. In that moment, all his thought are wiped from his mind and all he knows is her – her scent, her beautifully disheveled appearance, the way she's looking back at him. But of course, like every moment spent with her, he must end it soon. He says, trying to hide the mournfulness in it, "I should let you go back to your resting."

"Okay." She says softly. "But only if you yourself go to sleep to."

"It's a deal." Elijah pulls his hands from hers and lightly kisses her forehead. When he pulls his lips away, he rests his forehead against hers for a fleeting moment before he finally stands up.

Hayley gives him a small smile and lies back down. Elijah pulls the comforter over her and shuts the lamp off. Through the moonlight, he looks at her face, eyes closed. He lets the sight comfort him again before finally leaves the room.

•••

Just like in the memory, Elijah decides to let Hayley rest and moves to leave the room. While standing over her, he leans down to drop a light kiss on her forehead. But she stirs and inevitably wakes up. Her squinting eyes meet Elijah's, who is leaning over her still, balancing himself with the hand on the headboard.

Hayley looks at him confusedly. "Hey, you." She greets him and he sits on the mattress and kisses her on the lips instead. When he pulls away, she asks, "Why are you – are you okay?" Her hand reaches up to touch his face.

Elijah replies, "I'm fine. Nothing to concern yourself with." His hand leaves the headboard and moves some of her hair from her face his other arm goes over her and rests his weight on the hand that is on the mattress.

She nods. "Alright. Did you just get in? It must be, like, three in the morning."

"Yes, it is," Elijah kisses her again, longer, this time. Hayley's hand goes through his hair and is lowly leaning up but he pulls away. He lets out a rough chuckle. "Go back to sleep now, Hayley. Don't let me bother you."

She presses her lips against his again and in between kisses, she mumbles, "You…already…did."

He gives her a look. "Hayley."

Hayley rolls her eyes at him. When he retracts his arm from over hers, she moves her body to the side of the bed, giving him space to lie down. Elijah smiles and stands up to remove his jacket, tie and shoes. She watches him do so, with a grin on her face. He already knows what she's thinking.

He says amusedly as he folds his sleeves, "If my memory serves me right, you one called this my 'after-midnight get up.'" He slips into the covers with her.

Hayley automatically moves closer to him when his arm sleeps around her, his hand resting on the curve of her waist. She giggles hoarsely as she rests her cheek on the portion of his collar bone that is exposed by his white button-down. Elijah knows also that she knows what he is talking about when she says, "Your memory always serves you right."

Elijah kissed her on the top of her head and closes his eyes. He lets is other senses go all out. He feels her breath hitting his skin constantly of her leg tangling with his. He finds the abundance of her scent comforting. He could still taste a trace of her in his tongue. He listens to the steadiness of her heartbeat. This exact moment, right when he's hovering over sleep and awakeness, he knows will be imprinted on his mind, too precious to forget, to be recalled again and again.

•••

**A/N: **Listen to "Instant Crush" by Daft Punk feat. Julian Casablancas, such an inspiration for this chapter.


End file.
